On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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Read the rest of Opening red carpet at the 14th Pusan International Film Festival (241 words)

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Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Choi Jung-won, Eom Ji-won, film festivals, Go Eun-ah, Go Jun-hee, Ha Ji-won, Han Chae-young, Han Eun-jung, Han Hye-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Im Joo-hwan, Im Soo-jung, Jang Dong-gun, Jang Hyuk, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeon Hye-bin, Jo Jae-hyun, Jung Ryeo-won, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Haneul, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Nam-gil, Kim So-yeon, Kim Yunjin, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Seon-kyun, Min Hyo-rin, Park Hee-soon, Seo Woo, So Ji-sub, Su Ae, Sung Yuri, Sunwoo Sun, Uhm Jung-hwa, Wang Seok-hyun, Yeh Ji-won, Yoo Hana, Yoo Sun, Yoon Kye-sang

For a movie, that is; it’s not a case of singer and movie star Uhm Jung-hwa putting out her own book.

She stars in the new movie Bestseller, which is the debut feature film for director Lee Jung-ho, who worked as assistant director under Jung Yoon-chul (The Man Who Was Superman). In it, she plays a sensitive, high-strung famous writer who feels she cannot write any more bestsellers. Not much information is given about the plot, but the movie will be in the thriller genre.

Bestseller beings shooting in mid-September.

Uhm Jung-hwa has been extremely busy these days; she recently appeared in the movies Insadong Scandal (with Kim Rae-won) and Haeundae (co-starring Sol Kyung-gu and Ha Ji-won) and the KBS drama The Man Who Can’t Get Married (with Ji Jin-hee). She also has an upcoming released planned in the omnibus film Ogamdo.

Via Cine 21, Joy News

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Post tags: Uhm Jung-hwa

This is an interesting article, in that it looks at the low numbers faced by current Monday-Tuesday drama The Man Who Can’t Get Married and analyzes it from a cultural perspective. Most low-rated dramas (that aren’t disasters of writing/acting) tend to explain their disappointing numbers in terms of being too complicated for the average viewer or lacking in “makjang” (convoluted, unrealistically dramatic) qualities, but The Man Who Can’t Get Married is a bit different in that it’s also adapted from a Japanese series that enjoyed quite a lot of popularity. So why is the Korean version faltering?

The Man Who Can’t Get Married can’t attract popularity

Hidden birth secrets, mother/daughter-in-law conflicts, a handsome chaebol who falls for an ajumma without reason — it has none of those. All it has is the “man who can’t get married” who has reached the age of forty as a bachelor because of his extremely fastidious temperament.

KBS’s Man Who Can’t Get Married, remade from the popular 2006 Japanese drama of the same name, has been unable to shake off its low single-digit ratings. Compared to other dramas that have been remade from Japanese series like White Tower and Boys Before Flowers, it’s a disappointing result.

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Read the rest of The man who can’t get ratings (560 words)

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Post tags: drama ratings, j-doramas, Ji Jin-hee, remakes, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Uhm Jung-hwa

First of all, much thanks to Javabeans for letting me commandeer her site so I could post these recaps and putting up with all my questions. Second, I have to say that I’m really enjoying this show much more than I expected. I am watching the show ahead of where I’m writing my recaps, so I’m a few episode past the first one right now, and I will tell you that this show seems to be getting better with each episode, so even if you found the first episode lackluster, you should definitely continue.

Anyways, on to the Ji Jin Hee eyecandy!

Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, I think I should warn everyone right now that I’m a kpop aficionado, and thus, kpop references and comparisons will almost definitely be popping up in my recaps, though I promise to try and keep it only to the really relevant stuff. I also take no responsibility for any harm caused by any pondering I may engage in on certain men and their relative eyecandy-ness.

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Read the rest of The Man Who Can’t Get Married – Episode One (174 words)

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Post tags: episode recaps, guest bloggers, Ji Jin-hee, Kim So-eun, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Uhm Jung-hwa, Yang Jung-ah, Yoo Ah-in

Ratings battles are always part of the trials and tribulations of television dramas, but is the experience better or worse when one is going up against one’s own sibling? It’s not a common scenario, because while there are several sets of famous siblings in the biz, like Kim Tae-hee and Lee Wan, it’s rare that they’re both in dramas simultaneously, much less in the same timeslot.

But now, we have not one but two sets of siblings in this situation. Older sister Chae Shi-ra is currently heading the KBS weekend sageuk series Iron Empress [천추태후], but will soon face competition from her own little sister, Chae Kook-hee, who has been cast in SBS’s Style [스타일], which premieres August 1.

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Read the rest of Sibling rivalries take to the small screen (300 words)

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Post tags: Chae Kook-hee, Chae Shi-ra, Iron Empress, Queen Seon-deok, Style, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Uhm Jung-hwa, Uhm Tae-woong

Given that the star-studded omnibus movie Ogamdo [오감도] is touted as a story of “love beyond eros” told five different ways (there are five directors helming five different vignettes), it’s no surprise that its promotional material continues to be provocative. (For instance, the first poster got people talking with the nude woman it featured.)

In fact, the film has received an adults-only rating due to its “frank sexual depictions” and “provocative content.” Some of the narrative threads include a newlywed couple’s upset love, a first encounter for a young couple, a “peculiar relationship” between a famous movie actress and a new actress, a woman who lives with her dead husband’s girlfriend, and so forth.

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Read the rest of Ogamdo unveils more racy posters (42 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyuk, Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Uhm Jung-hwa

Kim So-eun trades her usual long, straight locks for a curly mop and a smoky eye in the July issue of Singles.

Inside the magazine, the interview with Kim talks of the roles she’s taken on as a child actor, as well as her breakout role playing Chae Shi-ra’s younger character in the historical series Iron Empress and, of course, by her popularity as Ga-eul in Boys Before Flowers. In the few months since the latter wrapped, Kim So-eun has picked up numerous endorsement deals for brands like Clean and Clear, Pocari Sweat, and Anycall.

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Read the rest of Kim So-eun in Singles and a new drama (182 words)

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Post tags: Ji Jin-hee, Kim So-eun, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Uhm Jung-hwa